Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c15.s2.90

c15.s2.90

From the concluding words of the Edict it appears that official maladministration was not confined to the province of Kaliṅga. The state of affairs at Ujjain and Taxila was similar. It is thus clear that the loyalty of the provincials was being slowly undermined by ministerial oppression long before Pushyamitra's *coup d'etat* of *c.* 187 B.C.² and the Greek invasion of *c.* 206 B.C. Aśoka no doubt did his best to check the evil, but he was ill served by his officers. It is significant that the provincials of the north-west—the very people who complained of the oppression of the *dushṭāmātyas* as early as the reign of Bindusāra, were among the first to break away from the Maurya empire.